Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alston
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Alston:
- 39.026214, -79.940908
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Alston
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Barbour County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Barbour County
- Since Alston is near Randolph County and also Upshur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- eBird sighting report for Upshur County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Alston ...
We found nine communities that share the name Alston.
Within West Virginia, the name Alston is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Montgomery County
- This Alston is located in Montgomery County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Alston that is located in Barbour County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Alston.
- Stewart County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Alston [Stewart County].
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alston ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Aggregates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aggregates have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aggregates
- Aggregates is located in Randolph County
- Crystal Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
- Crystal Springs is located in Randolph County
- Flora ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Gage
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Jones
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Junior
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Meadowville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowville
- Meadowville is located in Barbour County
- Mount Liberty
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Liberty
- Mount Liberty is located in Barbour County
- Roaring Creek Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roaring Creek Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Creek Junction
- Roaring Creek Junction is located in Randolph County
- Skidmore ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Stringtown
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Barbour County
- Valley Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Bend
- Valley Bend is located in Barbour County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley Bend <5>
- Weaver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver
- Weaver is located in Randolph County
How Far From Alston to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alston and extending to:
- Philippi, which is the Seat of Barbour County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alston to Philippi, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 102 miles [164.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 156 miles [251.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,013 miles [9,677 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,726 miles [10,824.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,602 miles [7,406.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Alston could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0262, Longitude: -79.9409 In this case, the coordinates for Alston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <7> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Alston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.617 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.423 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.906 degrees. |